Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Soul on Fire ❯ Soul on Fire ( Chapter 1 )

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Soul on Fire

By Jake (FarTooMasculine)

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Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise Sotsu Agency and Bandai. All chapter titles are taken from songs by the wonderful band HIM. Other songs are littered throughout. I am making no money from this story, and it is purely for entertainment.

Warnings: Rated R for 2x1, 1+R, 3x4, and maybe some other pairings, bad language, graphic violence, drug and alcohol use and abuse, and a lot of other really raunchy things. AU. I'll try my best to keep it as IC as possible.

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We are like the living dead
Sacrificing all we have
For a frozen heart and a soul on fire
We are like the living dead
Craving for deliverance
With a frozen heart and a soul on fire

HIM - Soul on Fire

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Duo Maxwell awoke to a faint tapping on his window. He rolled over and checked the little red digits on the alarm clock next to his bed, then rubbed his eyes. It was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon. It took him a few minutes to wake fully and sit himself upright in the bed, all while the tapping became more insistent. He pulled the blanket that doubled for a curtain away from the window. A pair of blue-green eyes hidden under thick golden hair stared at him. He opened the window and stuck his head out, long braid dangling down the side of the trailer.

"The hell you doing, Quatre? You know I work the night shift."

"I know. I just wanted to stop by. Is Trowa here?"

"Yeah. Why don't you go knock on his damn window once in a while?"

"If I did that, I wouldn't get the chance to see your wonderful, smiling face every day."

Duo closed the window and slipped on a dirty black t-shirt and a pair of gray sweat pants. Quatre had gone around to the front door and was knocking on it like a madman. Duo walked out into the living room of the single-wide trailer that he and Trowa shared and kicked open the door, knocking Quatre in the chest. The small blonde wheezed appreciatively and stepped inside.

"Where he at?"

Duo pointed to the hallway that lead to Trowa's room, then settled himself down on the sofa. He reached into a candy dish on the coffee table and took out a bag of weed and his pipe.

"You smokin'?" Quatre asked happily, sitting down next to Duo. "Care to share?"

Duo glared at him, annoyed. "Man, you got more money than the rest of us, college boy. When's the last time you offered to give me some?"

Quatre shrugged. It was true that his father was rich and he was attending a rather expensive college, but it wasn't like he ever got to see any of the money that his father forked over for tuition. He was lucky to come up with enough money to put gas in his car, some weeks. "You know I'm good for it when you're really in need."

"Yeah, whatever." He shoved some of the weed into his pipe and lit up. Trowa came out of his bedroom, wearing a pair of slippers and sweat pants. He raised his eyebrows when he noticed Quatre, giving him a wave.

"What brings you to our neck of the woods?" Trowa asked as he sat down in the recliner, flipping on the television.

"Oh, man, that's right," Quatre started, snatching the pipe from Duo to take a hit, then refusing to hand it back. "I talked to Wufei this morning. He says we should get together this weekend. He got a nice paycheck."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "I met this new guy in my Figure Study class, too. Seems pretty cool. Want me to bring him?" They nodded again.

"He got a name?" Trowa asked, taking the pipe from Quatre. Trowa wasn't much of a smoker, but when Duo engaged in it right out there in the living room, with other people around, he was never one to decline.

"Heero," Quatre said, leaning back on the couch. "Hey, you got beer?"

Duo glanced at Trowa. That was his department. He was the only one among them who was 21. "It's in the fridge." Quatre got up to get one.

He came back in the living room, popping the tab. "Wufei says he wants to go to a damn club or something. I'm so sick of those fucking places."

"If your daddy only knew about your mouth, Quat." Quatre Raberba Winner. His father was one of the richest men on the west coast. He'd raised Quatre to be a prince. He didn't even know the kinds of people his child tended to hang around with. If he did, Duo had realized years ago, he probably would have had an aneurysm, then disowned him. Duo enjoyed teasing him about it.

"I'm an adult. Fuck my daddy."

Trowa cringed. "That's a nasty thought." He flipped through the television channels and settled on Jerry Springer. Then a thought occurred to him. "Why aren't you in school, Quatre?"

Quatre settled himself back down on the sofa, taking another hit from the pipe. "I only have one class on Friday." Trowa nodded. "Why aren't you at work?"

"I lost my job."

Quatre started laughing. He was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. He went to open it. A short girl with purple hair and multiple facial piercings stood on the rickety front steps. "Is Duo here?"

Quatre nodded and stepped out of the way. Duo hid his pipe as she stepped in. "Don't try to hide it, Duo. I know you in here smokin'."

Duo bristled and took the pipe from behind his back, handing it over. "What's up, Hilde?"

"I was just in the neighborhood," she said casually, taking Quatre's seat on the sofa. "Thought I'd come by and see my very good friend Duo." She took a hit from the pipe and kept it. Quatre sat on the arm of the recliner Trowa was occupying.

"How much more shit do I owe, you Hild? I'd be happy to just pay up."

Hilde waved her hand, indifferent. "I think I'd much rather just come over every now and then. Gives me a chance to hang out with you guys."

Trowa snagged Quatre's beer and stole a few chugs of it. "What are you guys talking about?" Quatre asked.

Hilde smiled at him, taking another hit. "Personal business, little man."

"Hilde's a dealer," Duo ground out, snatching his pipe back. "I made the mistake of borrowing from her."

Hilde ruffled his hair playfully. "We're going out this weekend," Quatre told her, taking his beer back from Trowa. He barely caught sight of Duo waving his hand frantically, trying to tell him to shut up. "You wanna go?" Duo slumped in his seat.

Hilde stood up and stretched, her baby doll shirt riding high up on her stomach, revealing a naval piercing and a tattoo. "Yeah, I guess so. Make Duo call me before you guys take off." She waved at them and left through the front door, not closing it all the way. Duo got up, closed the door, locked it, and then peered out the window at her retreating form.

After a moment, he gave Quatre a sidelong glance. "Why'd you have to go and do a thing like that, man?"

"What?" Quatre asked innocently, still not bothering to reclaim his seat on the sofa. Not that he or Trowa seemed to really mind the current seating arrangements.

"I'm pretty sure she's got a thing for me, and the last thing I want to do is spend my free time with her."

Quatre shrugged. "So don't call her."

There was silence for a while. Trowa finally spoke up. "Weren't you supposed to get your bike out of the shop today?"

Duo jumped out of his seat, sending the bag of marijuana flying across the room. "Damn! That's right. Can you give me a ride, Quatre?"

Quatre shrugged and stood up as Duo put the pipe on the table and ran back to his bedroom to get dressed. Trowa stood up. "I'll go with you guys." Quatre gave no objections as he went back to his room, as well. He picked up the discarded pipe and relit it, considering it payment for chauffeuring his friends.

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"Man, let's stop at the store! I got the munchies like crazy."

Quatre pulled into a convenience store. Duo hopped out the back of his friend's jeep and ran inside to get some snacks. Trowa fiddled with the radio, trying to find a good station. "So who's this new guy you were talking about?" he finally asked, flicking off the radio.

Quatre shrugged. "Just some guy in my class. He's new, doesn't have any friends. I thought he might like to hang out with us."

"He cute?" Trowa ventured. He knew Quatre was gay. They all did. What they didn't know, though, was that Trowa had harbored a crush for the blonde for all of two months, and had failed to do anything about it. Being completely uninterested in relationships for your whole life and then suddenly realizing that you're gay and attracted to your friend can cause a bit of apprehension in taking the first step.

Quatre snorted at the question, but actually seemed to consider it. "Kinda short. Not really my type, but I guess so."

Trowa let out a small sigh of relief. Quatre wasn't interested in him that way.

Duo climbed back into the jeep, immediately digging into his plastic bag. "Whatcha got?" Trowa asked, peering into the bag.

Duo handed him a bag of Doritos and pulled out a brownie for himself. Trowa wrestled with the bag as Quatre sped off. "Why was your bike in the shop in the first place, Duo?"

"Transmission's shot," Duo mumbled, spewing a bit of brownie onto Quatre's dashboard. He wiped it off and ate it. "Sorry, man."

"I thought you knew how to work on cars?"

"I do know how to work on cars. Very well. It's bikes that I have some trouble with," he said, finishing the brownie. He let the plastic wrapper fly out the top of the open jeep.

There was silence for a moment until, "What happened to the radio, man?"

Trowa shrugged. "Nothing good on."

Duo squeezed between the seats and stuck in a CD from the case he always brought along when he rode with Quatre, turning the volume up almost full blast, nearly blowing out the speakers. Considering the wind was whistling around them as they sped down the highway at nearly 80 miles per hour, Quatre didn't complain. Duo sat back and put on his sunglasses, deciding to get some sun. Billy Joel was screaming at them from the speakers.

After a while, Quatre pulled onto an off ramp and turned down the radio. Trowa finished his chips. When they pulled into the auto shop, Duo leapt out of the jeep and ran to the office. Quatre reached behind them and rummaged through Duo's bag of snacks for something to eat. He decided on a Snickers bar.

Quatre looked at the sky behind his yellow-tinted sunglasses. "It's a nice day," he commented. Trowa nodded. "We should go to the beach."

After a moment of consideration, Trowa agreed with another nod. "Wanna call Wufei?"

Quatre shook his head. "Nah... he's got class."

They watched Duo inside the shop, signing papers reluctantly. He seemed to be arguing with the man behind the counter over something.

"Could give Heero a call."

Trowa stared at him. "Does he have class?"

"I don't think so. Worth a try, right?"

Trowa shrugged. Quatre pulled out his cel phone and dialed. "Hey, Heero?"

Trowa stood up to stretch his legs, barely listening to Quatre's conversation. "...going to the beach... want me to come pick you up?... meet you there." He heard the beep that signaled the end of the conversation, just as Duo came storming out of the office. He looked pissed.

"That rat bastard Howard!" Duo climbed into the backseat. "I swear, if he didn't give me such a good deal, I'd knock him out."

"Problems, Duo?"

"He hasn't finished working on it yet. He says he'll have it finished tomorrow."

"You get too pissed off over things. It's just one day," Trowa chided as he climbed back into the jeep and shut the door. He looked in the mirror attached to the visor and noticed that Duo was sulking. He couldn't exactly blame him. Duo had been given one of the toughest lives God had ever dished out. Even the little things that were thrown at him, such as a bike you worked hard to afford breaking down, and then having it not finished with repairs within a reasonable amount of time, tended to anger Duo. Trowa wasn't about to give him a lecture about his anger, but he always made sure to make at least one comment, just to let Duo know he was acting like a child. The man was twenty years old now, Trowa rationalized. Despite how hard life had been, twenty years was long enough to have gotten over it.

Quatre shook his head. "Let him be angry if he feels the need to be angry. He's got a right. Wouldn't you be pissed?"

Trowa shrugged, staring out the window. "So what did Heero say?" Duo turned the radio back up.

"Oh!" Quatre gasped. Trowa shook his head. That boy probably couldn't remember his own birthday unless someone reminded him. "He said he'd meet us there. We're going to Coral beach."

They remained relatively silent through the ride, aside from Duo's off-tune singing to the songs on the radio. "Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen. Maciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye!" Duo sang as they pulled onto the beach. He was the only one among them who not only loved Billy Joel, but also knew all of the lyrics to almost all of his songs.

"We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning," they sang together. Trowa merely mouthed the words. "We didn't start the fire. No we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it."

Duo continued singing the song. "Do you guys wanna drive around looking for Heero, or just park somewhere?" Quatre asked, glancing around. It was midday on a Friday. There weren't many children running around, luckily. There were mainly teenage beach bums and a few old people. "I say we drive for a bit. Did you two agree to meet somewhere specific?"

Quatre looked uncaring. "No, not really. Suppose I could call him."

"I want ice cream!" Duo yelled over the music. Trowa and Quatre looked at each other.

"You could tell him to meet us at Meilan's."

Quatre put the car in reverse and pulled back onto the road, heading towards the ice cream parlor. "I'm gonna get a triple scoop of double fudge," Duo mumbled as Quatre turned down the radio a bit. He pulled out his cel phone again and called Heero.

"We're going to Meilan's. Meilan's!" He turned down the radio a bit more. "Meilan's. It's an ice cream parlor. On the boardwalk. Alright, we'll meet you there. Five minutes? Cool."

Duo stuck his head between the seats. "Heero's meeting us there?" Quatre nodded. "He's not a jerk, is he?"

Quatre shook his head. Then his shoulders slumped. "He's not exactly very social though. So be nice, Duo. He just moved here."

"Where's he from?"

"I don't know. Haven't asked him."

"What do you mean he's not very social?"

Trowa sighed. "Why do you have to ask so many questions? Just wait 'til you meet him." Quatre looked thankful at Trowa's distraction. Once Duo got on a topic, it was rather hard to get him off of it.

They pulled into a parking space at Meilan's and went inside. Meilan smiled pleasantly at them, wiping her hands on her apron and standing up. Business was slow until around 3, when school got out and the kids came to the beach. "Well, if it isn't the three stooges."

"How are you doing, Meilan?"

"Perfectly fine, Duo." Meilan was a short chinese woman. She wore her black hair in pigtails. She was also Wufei's tentative girlfriend, though neither could easily admit to it. They may have respected the hell out of each other for certain talents and strengths, but they tended to butt heads more than one would care to see. Meilan liked the oldies, and The Foundations were currently singing "Build me up Buttercup" through the speakers set up around the store.

Duo plastered his face on the glass over the ice cream. "What can I get for you guys?" Meilan asked.

"Triple scoop double fudge," Duo said, nearly drooling. Quatre got a single vanilla and Trowa got a strawberry milkshake. They took their usual seats in the far corner of the shop.

Duo stared out the window, licking his ice cream. A few minutes later, the cowbell attached to the door jingled loudly. A short, brown-haired young man came through, kicking a skateboard up into his hand. Quatre sat up excitedly. "Oh, there he is!"

Heero turned to Quatre and gave a nod of his head before walking over, skateboard at his hip. Duo glanced at him. He wore a pair of cut-off khaki shorts, a baggy t-shirt, and sandals. He also had a hemp necklace around his neck. Duo smiled and stood up.

It wasn't until they were right next to each other that Duo noticed the height difference. Looking at Heero from a distance, one would imagine that he was just a regular guy, broad-shouldered and muscular. Standing next to him, Duo realized that he was at least three inches shorter (meaning that he was rather small, given that Duo wasn't tall, himself), with thin shoulders and thin arms, though not exactly lacking muscles. Duo shook his hand in a formal greeting that didn't really fit the circumstances. "You're Heero?" The boy nodded. "I'm Duo. That's Trowa. And you know Quatre."

He sat back down. Heero pulled up a chair, turned it around backwards, and straddled it, still holding on to his skateboard. Trowa nodded at him, chewing on the straw of his milkshake.

"So, Heero," Quatre started, forgetting about his ice cream for the moment. "I haven't had a chance to ask you... where are you from?"

Heero lowered his eyes and picked at stickers on his skateboard. Duo stared at them, noting that they all seemed to be the names of rock bands. "Small town outside of Jacksonville," Heero said quietly.

"Jacksonville? Where's that?" Quatre knew by now that he had to prod Heero to speak at every opportunity, just to keep a conversation going. He certainly hoped that the brunette would eventually open up to them.

"S'in Florida."

Duo smirked. "Oh, we got a little southerner on our hands."

Heero raised his eyes. "Florida is in the south, but most of it isn't really 'southern'."

Duo's smirk widened at the hint of an accent. Especially on the word "southern." He looked over at Heero, meeting his eyes. Heero looked away. In that small moment, Duo had caught sight of some of the deepest blue irises he'd ever seen. Unknown to Duo, Heero was thinking similar thoughts about Duo's eyes, how strange a color of bluish-purple they had seemed.

"Why did you move here?"

Heero looked suddenly nervous, fingers tightening on the skateboard. "To go to school. I'm gonna go get some ice cream," he said quickly as he stood up and walked to the counter.

Duo raised an eyebrow. "You're right about him being anti-social. He looks like he's scared we'll attack him any minute."

"I'm sure he just needs to warm up to us. He's probably nervous about being in such a new place," Quatre ventured. Trowa nodded silently.

Heero, standing at the counter scanning the assorted ice cream flavors, heard their conversation. At their words, he sunk lower into his shoulders, feeling horrid. He wasn't scared of them. He wasn't nervous about being in a new place. He just knew that making friends, in the long run, wouldn't be good for him. In fact, it could be downright dangerous, as he'd learned in the previous town.

"Try the double fudge, Heero!" Duo shouted. Not that shouting was necessary. The shop was fairly small and quiet.

Heero didn't respond, but pointed at the double fudge through the glass. He got a single scoop on a sugar cone and returned to the table. He set his skateboard down on the floor, resumed his seat, and put his feet on the board, rolling it back and forth distractedly.

"How long have you been skateboarding, Heero?" Quatre asked, nearly done with his ice cream.

"About three years," Heero answered plainly, tasting his ice cream. He decided quickly that it was a bit too rich for his tastes, but noticed that Duo was enjoying his.

Trowa slurped noisily on the last of his milkshake.

"Can you do tricks?" Duo asked, seeming interested.

Heero leaned back a bit. No one had ever really seemed interested in him before. Or his hobbies. "Um... a few. Yeah."

Duo stood up. "Come show me some," he said excitedly, grabbing Heero's upper arm to try and pull him to his feet. The boy jerked his arm out of his grasp and stood up, taking a step away. Duo raised his eyebrows at the reaction, but noticed that he didn't exactly seem angry. He made a mental note to keep touching to a minimum.

Heero stomped on the nose of his skateboard and grabbed it with his free hand, then turned to walk out of the shop. "You guys coming?" Duo asked. The others stood to follow him. Heero waited outside, standing on his skateboard, ice cream still in hand. The wheels creaked as he leaned back and forth. He was looking around, finding elements of the landscape that could be used to show what he could do.

Trowa, Duo, and Quatre sat down on a bench outside of the ice cream shop. Quatre was eating what was left of his ice cream cone. Duo was down to his third scoop, and it was steadily melting down his hand, now that they were outside in the heat.

Heero gave them a glance, then put a foot on the ground and started moving. The others watched absently. Duo was waiting for the moment that Heero's ice cream would fall to the ground in a useless heap.

Heero skated out into the road, then turned around and came back. He jumped up on a curb, sliding the underside of the skateboard on it. He continued on for a bit, then went back up onto the curb, leaning forward. Only the front wheels touched the concrete. He landed back on the road.

They all watched while Heero did more tricks. Trowa and Quatre started clapping after each one. Duo was disappointed when he realized that Heero was finished and returning to them. His ice cream was still in his hand. He watched the thin form leaning on the skateboard, hands at his sides.

Heero stopped in front of Duo and glanced down at his hand, which was covered in drying chocolate. "Do you want this?" he asked, holding out the ice cream. Duo took it with a shrug. "I'm not a big fan of chocolate." He stepped off the skateboard and leaned against the wall beside them.

"That was pretty impressive, Heero," Quatre said pleasantly, leaning forward to look at him around Duo. Heero lowered his head and shrugged. "Duo rollerblades."

Duo snorted. "Yeah, to get somewhere faster than walking." He looked up at Heero. "I don't do any tricks. Except I can jump over things without falling on my face like a retard. Even that took quite a bit of practice, though."

Heero glanced at him and nodded. Quatre checked his watch as if it mattered what time it was. "Do you guys wanna go down to the beach, or go home or what?"

Trowa shrugged. He never really cared either way what they did. And now that he didn't have a job and didn't have anywhere to be, there was no reason to be anywhere specific.

Duo glanced around. It was around four o'clock, he estimated. "I think we should get home." Heero stepped onto his skateboard, prepared to take off. "You wanna come?"

Heero glanced up when he realized that Duo was addressing him. He tried to think if there was anything better for him to do, some way to get out of going over there. He could think of nothing, and shrugged indifferently.

They all stood up and walked back to Quatre's car. Heero skated the short distance. Duo climbed in the back, and he hesitantly climbed in behind him. Quatre started the car and Billy Joel began screaming again.

"Only the good die young," Duo sang, reaching forward to turn the radio up. Heero pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. He crossed his arms and leaned back, trying to pretend he was asleep. "You like Billy Joel?" Duo screamed over the music. Heero peered at him from behind the sunglasses and nodded slightly.

Duo smiled. "Hell yeah!" He leaned forward. "We got another Billy Joel fan back here!" Trowa and Quatre rolled their eyes.

They flew down the highway, the needle on the speedometer barely touching the 90 mile per hour mark. Duo wondered how in the hell Quatre had never received a speeding ticket. It must have been luck because he himself always seemed to get them.

When they returned to their house, Duo went inside first and immediately began crawling around on the floor, looking for his bag of weed. Heero stepped inside last and hovered around the door. The television was on. He could hear cars flying by on the road in front of the trailer. Trowa went to the fridge. "Who wants beer?"

Quatre, sitting Duo's bag of goodies down on the coffee table, raised his hand. Duo raised his hand. Trowa stared at Heero. "Want one?" Heero shrugged and leaned his skateboard against a wall. Trowa passed out the beers. Duo finally found his bag of weed and picked up his pipe to clean the ashes out.

Heero sat on the arm of the couch. Duo stared at him. "You smoke?" Heero shrugged. Duo smirked. "Judging by that necklace, I'd say you do."

Heero grabbed the necklace and put it under his shirt. Duo laughed, and he couldn't help but smirk just a bit, hearing the carefree sound. Trowa was flipping through the channels again when Duo finally finished refilling his pipe. He lit it and took a hit. Heero rubbed his nose as the familiar scent permeated the air.

As Duo handed it to him, he wondered if it was exactly an intelligent thing to do, smoking with them. He'd been clean of drugs for months. He worried that he might fall back into the habit, especially around people who seemed to do it every day. He stared down at the pipe, embers still glowing a bit, and let out a sigh. There was no helping it, really. He had it in his hand. He may as well. He raised the pipe to his lips, lit it, and inhaled.

They sat around for a few hours, smoking weed. They finally stopped when each of them realized that they could not take any more. Each hit caused them to break into coughing fits.

Heero sipped his beer, leaning back against the couch and feeling incredibly relaxed. Duo had settled himself beside him, next to Quatre. Trowa was in the recliner, flipping through the television channels again.

"Fuck it, Trowa!" Duo finally yelled, leaning forward. "We've got seven channels, man! Seven! You must have gone through them a hundred times already!"

Trowa stared at him and put the remote control on the table. Quatre started laughing and patted Trowa on the shoulder. Duo glanced at the clock on the wall. "...did Wufei say he wanted to go out tonight? Or tomorrow night?"

"I don't know," Quatre answered, turning from Trowa. "He just said this weekend."

Duo shrugged. "Gimme your phone, Q." Quatre handed it over. Duo dialed the number and waited for him to answer. "Wufei!" he screamed.

Heero stared at him, listening to the tinny voice on the other end start screaming back.

"Okay, man, calm down. I won't yell no more." There was silence for a moment and then, "Did you wanna go out tonight? If so, we need to get going. Yes, I'm high, you shit head."

They all heard Wufei start screaming again.

"Alright, alright," Duo said placatingly, "I won't call you a shit head again. So are we going?" Duo nodded. "Where you wanna go?"

"Tell him no clubs!" Quatre yelled, his voice raising an octave higher than usual.

"Quatre says no clubs." Duo looked over at the blonde. "He says he wants to go to a pool hall. That cool?" Quatre nodded. "Alright. We'll meet you there in thirty." Duo hung up the phone and handed it back to Quatre as he stood up. "I don't want to go there stinking to high heaven of weed. I suggest you little craps take my advice and change your clothes." Duo headed to his room.

Heero stared after him. "I guess I should get going, then?"

Quatre waved his hand. "No way. You can go with us. Just go get some clothes from Duo."

Heero looked reluctant, but stood up anyway. He heard Quatre ask Trowa if he could borrow some clothes as he walked to Duo's room. He knocked on the door, which was only halfway closed. Looking in, he watched Duo slip on a pair of black jeans. He wasn't wearing underwear.

"Quatre told me to borrow some clothes so I can go with you guys," Heero said quietly. Duo turned around as if he'd been startled by the voice. He picked up a shirt off the floor.

"Oh," he said, slipping the black t-shirt on. "Just dig around on the floor for something your size." Duo snorted and sat down on the bed to put on his shoes. Heero picked up a random t-shirt and a pair of pants, noted that Duo was going to be a while putting his boots back on, and went down the hall to the bathroom to change.

When Heero went out to the living room, they were all standing around waiting for him. Heero pulled on his-Duo's-shirt a bit and grabbed his skateboard. He had his own clothes in his hand.

Duo stared at the clothes. "Man... we're probably not gonna be back 'til pretty damn late. If you want, you can crash here."

Heero's eyes darted back and forth. "Isn't Quatre going home tonight?" He looked at Quatre. "You could give me a ride, couldn't you?"

Quatre smiled. "Nope. Sorry. I crash here on the weekends."

"Oh." Heero's shoulders slumped, but he tossed his clothes onto the couch and replaced the skateboard. "Okay. I guess I can stay here tonight."

They left the trailer, not bothering to lock the door behind them, and climbed into Quatre's jeep. "Where are we going?" he asked, putting the car into reverse to back out onto the street.

"Golden Q," Duo answered, putting his hands behind his head. Heero crossed his arms over his chest and watched the scenery fly by. It was a while before he realized that Duo was staring at him out of the corner of his eye. He finally turned to look at the long-haired young man. Duo smirked at him. "What is it with you?" he asked casually.

Heero paled. Luckily, it was dark and Duo didn't notice. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't you talk much?"

Heero breathed a sigh of relief, realizing what Duo was talking about. "I just... don't have much to talk about. I'm a boring person."